Method of affixing soles



jam. 3, 1933,

w. H. BRESNAHAN METHOD OF AFFIXING SOLES 2 Sheets-Shee 1 Filed April 1'7. 1929 Jam 3 19330 W. H. BRESNAHAN 11,893 ,15

METHOD OF AFFIXING SOLES Filed April 17. 1929 2 Sheets-Shee 2 QM/00min 331 7&4 aum WILL H. JBRESNAHAN, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO COMPO SHOE 'STTES PATENT FFIQE CHHG'ERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE METHOD OF AFFIXING SOLES Application filed April 17,

This invention relates to methods of manufacturing footwear, and, more particularly, to methods of affixing outer soles to lasted uppers by means of adhesive cement.

A general object of this invention is to provide an efficient, rapid and economical method of afixing the outer soles to lasted uppers as aforesaid.

A more specific object of the invention is to it? provide a method of afixing outer soles to asted uppers by means of adhesive cement,

. said method including a series of correlated steps insuring a rapid and accurate alignment and laying of the sole and a firm union 15 between the outer sole and the lasted up er,

whereby the efiiciency and rapidity of pro uction of shoes of high quality will be improved.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear herein- 2@ after.

35 aligned and generally positioned upon the up- Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1, showing a further step in the method;

Figs. 3 and 4c are bottom plan and side elevational views, showing the step of preliminary laying of the sole; and

Figs. 5 to 7 are plan and side elevational views illustrative of the subsequent sole-laying and afixing operations.

The principles of the present invention are applicable generally to footwear. For simplicity of illustration and description, the

' drawings and specification of the present application will be confined to an exemplification of the manufacture of womens shoes of 1929. Serial No. 355,700.

the Louis wood-heel type. It is therefore to be understood that the word shoes as used herein is intended, whenever the context permits, to include other types of footwear, such, for example, as womens Cuban wood heel, mens and childrens shoes, boots, lounging slippers and the like.

The lasted upper and the outer sole to be affixed thereto may be produced in any desired manner to render them atfixable to one another, although it is preferable that the lasted upper shall be made without the use of staples, stitches or tacks in the shank and fore part, as is exemplified in my co-pending application Serial No. 351,177, filed March 30, 1929, and that the outer sole shall be prepared in a manner similar to that disclosed in my co-pending application which issued September 22, 1931, as Letters Patent No. 1,824,654, in which the extreme margin of the forepart is free from cement in order that it may not adhere throughoutto the upper, and will allow of the trimming, burnishing, setting and wood-heel-affixing operations usually carried out.

Referring more particularly to the illustrations in Figs. 1 and 2, the outer sole 10, split for the wood heel as at 11, is preferably first attached to the lasted upper 12 by means of one or more locating elements 13 placed at the heel. These elements may be tacks or equivalent means, such as pegs, staples or the like, and in certain cases, may be omitted if desired. The use, however, of some locating means facilitates the subsequent operations.

Adjacent sides of the margins of the fore parts of the lasted upper and of the outer sole, and preferably the entire shank of each, are then rendered adhesive and the outer sole is temporarily laid by hand, as indicated at 14 in Figs. 3 and 4. The desired adhesiveness may be obtained in any suitable manher, and may be formed on either one or both or between the lasted upper and the outer sole, although it is preferable that both the lasted upper and the outer sole shall have been previously cemented, the cement being allowed to dry, and that just prior to the aforesaid temporary locating operation the cemented surfaces of each shall be treated lot with a cement solvent or softener, as'is indicated by the brush 15.

While the adhesive is still in a tacky condition, the shoe is then placed in a pressure jack such as that indicated. by the numerals 16 in Figs. 5 to 7, and is clamped againstan in flatable pad 17, whereupon the pad is inflaied slightly, as, for example, to a pressure of about 5 010 pounds per square inch and as is indicated particularly in Figs. 5 to 7 ,the upper is given its final adjustment with re spect tothe outer sole, whereupon the final sole-aflix ng pressure of upwards of 40 lbs. is imparted to the pad, which pressure is maintained until the cement has set.

Although any suitable pressure mechanism may be used in carrying out the steps of the method last referred to, it is preferred that a pressure jack of the type similar to that described in my co-pending application Serial No. 272,449, filed April 24,1928, be used. In saidco-opending application the jack 16 is provided with a clampng lever 18, carrying a last pin 1-9,an instep pad 20, and abail 21 adapted to hold the shoe against the pressure of the pad 17. The pad 17 is, in turn, provided with an inlet valve 22, which may be temporarily connected to a fluid pressure-supply 23, the amount of pressure suppl ed to the pad 17 being controlled by means of a manually-operated valve 24, controlled preferably by means of a treadle 25. Although an operator will quickly become able to judge the pressure in the pad 17 by feel alone, it is preferable that the fluid pressure supply source 23 should be equipped with a pressure gauge 26. The pad 17 is also equipped with an outlet valve 27, the primary purpose of which .is to release the pressure after the sole-aflixing operation is completed and the cement has set, although such valve also may be operated in such cases, in which the operator should not obtain proper adjustment of the sole before the pressure becomes too high to allow of movement of the upper with respect thereto. It will thus be seen that by means of the present invention there has been provided a method of rapidly and accurately affixing soles to lasted uppers by means of adhesive cement, and since certain changes may he made in carrying out the above process without departing from the scope of the invent on it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the following cla ms are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of, the invention herein described,and all statements of the scope of'the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween. 1

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

' 1. A method of affixing an outer sole to a lasted upper, which includes, in combination,

placing an adhesive between the adjacent vsuradjusting said' upper with respect to said soles; and thereafter inflating said substantially its final pressure to a sole.

" 2. A method of aflixing an outer sole to a ti t;

lasted upper, which includes, in combination,

rendering adhesive the corresponding sur- 7 faces of the sole and the upper; locating the sole with respect to the upper; clamping the aforementioned parts in a pressure jack with the sole resting on an inflatable pad; slightly inflating the pad an before the adhesive has set, finally ad ust'ng said upper with respect to said sole; and thereafter inflating said pad to substantially its final pressure to affix the sole. s

3. A method of affixing an outer sole to a lasted upper, which includes, .in combination, attaching the outer sole to the lasted upper by a tack-like locating means; rendering adhesive corresponding surfaces of the sole and the upper; laying the sole by hand with respect to the upper; clamping the ensemble in a pressure jack with the sole resting on an inflatable pad; slightly inflating the pad; and, before the adhesive has set, finally adjusting said upper with respect to said sole; and thereafter inflating said pad to substantially its final pressure to aflix the sole.

4. A method of aflixin an outer sole to a lasted upper, which inclu es, in combination, attaching the outer sole to the lasted upper by a tack-like locating means; rendering adhesive the opposed marginal surfaces of the fore part and of the entire shank of the sole and the upper; laying the sole by hand with respect to the upper; clamping the ensemble in a pressure jack with the sole resting on an inflatable pad; slightly inflating the pad; and, before the adhesive has set, finally adjusting said upper with respect to said sole; and thereafter inflating said pad to substantially its final pressure to afiix the sole.

5. A method of aflixing an outer sole to a lasted upper, which includes, in combination, coating the marginal portion of the fore part of each and the shank-portion of each with an adhesive cement; after the cement has dried attaching the sole to the upper by means of a tack-like locating means at the aeeaoie with a sole resting on an slightly inflating the pad; and, before the adhesive has set, finally adjusting said upper with respect to said sole; and thereafter inflating said pad to substantially its final pressure to aflix the sole.

6. A method of aflixing an outer sole to a lasted upper, which includes, in combination, coating the marginal portion of the fore part of each and the shank-portion of each with an adhesive cement; after the cement has dried attaching the sole to the upper by means of a tack-like locating means at the heel applying to the cemented portions a softener for the cement to render it adhesive; laying the sole by hand with respect to the upper; clamping the ensemble in a pressure jack with the sole resting on an inflatable pad; slightly inflating the pad; and, before the adhesive has set, finally adjusting said upper with respect to said sole; and thereafter inflating said pad to substantially its final pressure to afiix the sole.

7 A method of aflixing an outer sole to a lasted upper, which includes, in combination, coating the marginal portion of the fore part of each and the shank-portion of each with an adhesive cement; after the cement has dried attaching the sole to the upper by means of a tack-line locating means at the heel; applying to the cemented portions a softener for the cement to render it adhesive; layin the sole by hand with respect to the upper; c amping the ensemble in a pressure jack with the sole resting on an inflatable pad; inflating the pad to a pressure of about 510 inch; and, before the adhesive has set, finally adjusting said upper with respect to said sole; and thereafter inflating said pad to a pressure of about 40 pounds per square inch.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signaturen WILLIAM H. BRESNAHAN.

inflatable pad;

pounds per square. 

